Nawtee puppy!

[Kristl]

Oh, was Bull bad today! Of course I couldn't yell at him...we took our first far away from the house walk today. We had to, of course, cross the street. Well, when we got back to our yard I thought I'd let him play a while for being so good. I see how much he appreciated that! I let him off the leash...and he takes off across the road. There was a truck coming, but he was driving slow because he had seen Bull take off. So after playing "come on, get me" with the darn dog I caught his collar, said NO! and put the leash back on. Thanks to this nice man in the truck who kinda held up traffic (which there's not much anyway) while I got Bull back in the yard, no one was hurt! I was SSSOOOO mad at him, but I figured he didn't know what he had was a giant NO NO. Which I told him, but what else can ya do? Bad puppy!! Oh, the thoughts that went through my mind when he took off... So, does he now think that running across the street is ok cuz we did it on our walk?

[Vette]

That could have been very bad. but glad things turned out the way they did.


sorry i have no real advise to give you. but i wouldnt take him of leash near any road whether your crossing them or not. not until you know Bull knows the Come and Stay commands and know he'll obay them whatever the distraction. other wise i dont think its worth the risk and extra gray hairs on your head. LOL

[Kristl]

Originally posted by Vette
That could have been very bad. but glad things turned out the way they did.


sorry i have no real advise to give you. but i wouldnt take him of leash near any road whether your crossing them or not. not until you know Bull knows the Come and Stay commands and know he'll obay them whatever the distraction. other wise i dont think its worth the risk and extra gray hairs on your head. LOL

Oh boy...if I start to go gray we have a major problem! I'm 23 and well, I'd just dye it! You're right, though. It's just that before we had gone asross the street I could let him off leash in the fromt yard and he'd never even cross the sidewalk!

[ParNone]

Hi Kristl,

In that situation it's actually best not to yell at'em, because it'll just make it that much harder the next time they get away from you. Since he was acting all playful and like it was a game, I would have tried running in the opposite direction from him and making all kinds of high pitched exciting noises, to get him to chase after me. Then if he came running after me, I'd get down on the ground so he could come right into me and praise, praise, praise to high heaven, when he does.

I'd also not let him off leash except in secure areas and start working on "Come", while on leash first. I wouldn't start working on it off leash, until he had a solid "Come" on leash.

Par...

[micki76]

Honestly, I don't like to see dogs off leash unless in a controlled area. I'm too worried about what other roaming dogs may do. I saw my childhood dog get attacked and nearly killed and since then, I have an insane fear of strays and what they may do to my babies. I'm not afraid of what they may do to me, just my dogs.

For me, that's a bigger fear than traffic.

[bckrazy]

aw, I'm SO glad things turned out the way they did. You could've had a very badly hurt puppy on your hands. I wouldn't be mad at Bull, it is not his fault. He's only a puppy, and no one can possibly expect a puppy to know not to go into a busy road...

I met a guy walking his puppy off leash near a very busy road, the puppy was not paying any attention to him at all, was wandering into stores and into the road, and he already had a limp and a shaved rear leg from being hit by a car. The man said that's the only way the puppy would learn to follow him! ! People, what do you think they invented leashes for?!

Please, dont let Bull off his leash EVER unless he is in a secure fenced area. I have seen WAY too many "trustworthy", "lazy", neighborhood Labs/Goldens become badly injured and killed in my neighborhood alone because people assume they just know not to run into the street. That is like letting a 2 year-old run loose in the streets

[Vette]

LOL small word. im 23 as well. but our pets 'close calls' can make us feel much older.

[Kristl]

The road I'm on is about 10 feet from being out of town...the only time it's ever bust is right after the high school gets out...normally you could lay down on it for 30 minutes and be fine, but...I know that there's always that chance. In our backyard, it's fenced on 3 sides from the neighbors...I may add the 4th. So, I'll just keep him out back when we go out, just in case!

And Vette...yes they do worry us to death at times!!!